Charles Oliveira has explained why there was no September rematch with Arman Tsarukyan, and the reason had nothing to do with contracts or injuries. According to MiddleEasy, the former lightweight champion said the death of his teammate Allan Nascimento left him unable to fight in the fall. Nascimento’s memory has now become his main source of motivation as he prepares for his next bout, against Diego Lopes.
That is the whole story, and it doesn’t need dressing up. A fighter lost someone from his own room and decided he couldn’t make the walk while it was still raw. Oliveira has spent a career being the guy who shows up, takes the fight and finds a way to finish it, so hearing him say he simply couldn’t do it in September tells you how heavy this was.
The Nascimento news landed during a talkative stretch for Oliveira. In an interview with MMA Fighting, he pushed back on people criticizing his BMF title win from earlier this year. The complaint, as he framed it, is that a BMF fight is supposed to be two guys standing in the pocket and breaking each other down. His response was blunt: “’Oh, but the BMF fight is about going there and breaking each other up.’ Then, honestly, brother, here’s the belt. Take it somewhere else.” Per a clip shared by @DovySimuMMA, he added, “That belt is not for me,” if the price of keeping it is standing and banging only.
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He’s also been handing out free scouting reports. Asked about Carlos Prates against Islam Makhachev, Oliveira pointed to Ian Garry’s approach as the template, saying, “If he lands those kicks to the ribs and calves like Garry, he could catch Islam off guard.” He added that if Makhachev doesn’t get the finish in the first or second round and Prates keeps his composure, Prates “has everything he needs to win.”
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Tsarukyan, meanwhile, has been busy with something else entirely. Over the weekend he posted a skit promoting his coffee brand that used an AI version of Justin Gaethje. So the Oliveira rematch is off the calendar for now, and the man on the other side of it is selling espresso with a digital Gaethje.
My take: pulling out of September was the right call, and nobody should second-guess it. Grief wrecks sleep, appetite and focus, and a fight camp runs on all three. A version of Oliveira who walked out against Tsarukyan half-present would have been a bad bet against one of the best wrestlers at 155. On the BMF point, I’m fully with him. The belt goes to the baddest man in the fight, and if that man wins by grappling better than the other guy, that’s the sport working as designed. People who want Oliveira to throw away his best weapon for their entertainment can go watch a slap fight. He’ll take the Nascimento motivation and the full toolbox into the Lopes fight, and Lopes should plan for both.
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